An Ode to Puffin

All the many streets were deserted

I haven’t ever seen them so

‘you imagine - a weekday evening

In downtown Toronto

Ne’er would I have thought

That March would be this surreal

Even just a couple months ago

A changed world, truly fictional

I’d always read and heard

That life and humans are fragile

Strong yet transient, delicate yet resilient

We’re all seeing it for real, the trial

For it takes a village they say

And here it took a massive city

Throughout - before, during, after

Our little one’s arrival, so innocent, so pretty

To doctors, nurses, and all the staff

Of Toronto Western and Mount Sinai

Thank you for all you’ve done

When Covid tensions were high

I’m amazed at how smooth you ran

When normalcy was so inside out

Only thing missing was a Sinai onesie

We can most certainly do without

Her simple world has four actions

Poo and pee, burp and feed

You’d think it is a simple list, but it’s a

Cycle set to repeat and repeat

I ain’t a poet, so please let me borrow

Two lines from Lear, a poetic star

O lovely Puffin, O Puffin my love

What a beautiful Puffin you are

Been unforgettable, this month

To our little one, a poem was due

I’d have written this sooner, but

I was busy cleaning Puffin Poo

One day when you’re older

I’ll read this to you, Boo

Dearest sweetest little Puffin

This is an ode to you.